World Car News

Automobile News

Sunday, May 10, 2009

More images and details of Alpina's B6 GT3 racer have hit the web, and it looks like despite spending two decades away from motorsports, there are no flies on the leading Bimmer tuning haus. Based on BMW's 6-Series coupe, the B6 weighs under 3,000 pounds and gets a supercharged 4.4-liter V8 that gives more than 520 horsepower and 535 pound-feet of torque. Backed by a six-speed X-Trac sequential gearbox, the car is reportedly capable of hitting 62 miles-per-hour in 3.9 seconds en route to a top whack of at least 177 mph (a speed it has already reached in testing on the Nürburgring). The B6 GT3 will debut at next month's Geneva Motor Show before going on to scrap with Aston Martin, Porsche, and Ferrari on circuits around the world. Alpina will field its own team (it is reportedly considering a number of pro drivers), but privateers will also be able to buy their own B6 if they fancy going it alone.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of MINI, tens of thousands of MINI enthusiasts and their cool cars will descend upon the legendary Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom from May 22nd - 24th for MINI UNITED 2009.

BMW Group is planning a limited edition MINI to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cooper Car Company taking the F1 manufacturers crown way back in 1959.

The MINI John Cooper F1 will be distinguished by its British Racing Green non-metallic paint color, lined with two white-edged black stripes and Pepper White side mirrors and roof.

But the MINI F1 won’t be as juiced as the MINI Cooper S with the John Cooper Works GP tuning kit. Details on what the tuning actually entails beyond the paint job and a few F1 markings strewn about are not yet available. MINI will likely debut the model at the MINI United event at Silverstone in May.

We have no doubt that many of you reading our blog are either aspiring or already pursuing a career in the automotive world. In the past, we have received several BMW unofficial designs from our readers and published them each time, hoping to draw some attention to their work and also to receive constructive criticism from all of us. One of these talented artists and a very close friend of ours, Giom, came up with some exciting BMW 3D renderings in the past.

So, when I came across an article on Edmunds about the Top 10 Automotive Colleges and Universities in the U.S., I naturally thought about you and how this list might help your future choices. Now of course, the list only applies to U.S. based schools, but I’m hoping in the near future to write a similar article on some European automotive/design schools as well.

University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University: It’s a toss-up as to whether Michigan, Michigan State or Michigan Tech will produce the best automotive engineers in the future. Alumni from all three can be found at most automotive-related companies. Potential students will have to decide which best fits their needs, but any of these three have to be considered a top choice.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) : Purdue has long produced top engineers for Detroit and its suppliers. IUPUI boasts a motorsports engineering program. Ryan Newman, one of the very few NASCAR drivers who graduated from college, holds an engineering degree from Purdue.

Cornell University: The Ithaca, New York, institution is not a traditional automotive school, but any university that has eight FSAE championships to its credit has to be on this list. In addition, Cornell is one of the few colleges to enter both the Automotive X Prize competition and the DARPA driverless vehicle event.

Kettering University: Despite having fewer than 3,000 students, Kettering University produces far more than its share of industry personnel. Located in Flint, Michigan, the school formerly known as General Motors Institute offers degrees in management as well as engineering.